Basic and Pouille win singles titles

Does it impact the game of an athlete playing a fellow countryman and potentially someone they looked up too when they were younger? It apparently has had no effect on Pouille who had a winning head-to-head going into this final of 3:1.

Their matches have always been a battle though; thus, implying that one or both has struggled with the close relationship. Remnants of that showed up in the first set when Pouille had opportunities to break Gasquet and could not convert. The first set went to a tiebreak, which was dominated by Pouille.

Fatigue or a lingering injury was probably the variable that came into play today for Gasquet as he had nothing left in the second set. An early break in the second set was all Pouille needed to defeat his countryman for the fourth time and win his first title of the 2018 season. With this 6-7(2), 4-6 loss, Gasquet was denied for the second consecutive year the Montpellier title.

Diema Xtra Sofia Open, Bulgaria

Men’s Final: [93] Marius Copil (ROU) vs. [129] Mirza Basic (BIH)

Nerves played a role as each player had the added pressure of trying to secure their first ATP World Tour singles title. Nerves were evident throughout the match at various stages. Basic served for the first set at 5-4 and could not cross the finish line; however, he came back to win the tiebreak.

Nerves were present when Copil lost his break lead in the second set and had to fight back in the tiebreak to extend the match. It went to a deciding set and the player that handled the pressure better won the match. The qualifier Basic won 7-6(6), 6-7(4), 6-4 to claim his first career singles title.